Discussions on Science & Theology

Creation Requires A Creator

How can anyone definitively say God exists? How could we ever claim to know such truth? Such mystical allusions are rife with arrogance, as if we mere mortal humans could ascend into the heavens and attain such privileged knowledge… These questions are not without due consideration, and I must say, providing a compelling systematic explanation for my faith has proven to be a tall order to fill. Often times my explanatory power gets muddled in the translation and I’m unable to provide anything palpable for my atheist friends to meditate on.

Thus I find myself in a peculiar position, struggling to persuade those around me of that which I had taken for granted, that is creation requires a creator. I frequently find myself caught in the undertow of contemporary thought, locked in a twilight zone where men call things that are, as though they were not. In a world where positing an external creator is to replace science with magic! I feel as though I have awoken amid’st the chaos of an exotic circus grandeur, wherein faith is the grand illusion! for faith in God is to assert “Oogity Boogity caused everything by the mechanism of POOF!” as one blogger so eloquently attest. Perhaps I just never quite understood how something could pop out of nothing. The idea that space, time, and matter just spontaneously erupted from free-space defies not only the natural laws that govern our universe, but also reason it self. In this apparent anomaly that is our universe, we must admit, a higher power is a possibility worth considering.

Thus my belief in God rest on three basic assumptions: 1. God Himself is eternal, for we know that matter is not eternal but had a definite beginning. 2. that which has been created (matter) requires a creator. 3. That said creator has purposefully revealed himself to us in such a way that he can be discerned. Now in regards to this last point, I ask myself, looking back through the sands of time do I see any indications of a creator attempting to reveal himself to us? Indeed, let us for a moment look plainly upon the scriptures. Comprised of arguably the most ancient texts in the world, we find a succession of congruent books purposefully documenting historical encounters with the “creator of heaven and earth.” Whats more, it is through these texts that we come across the extraordinary life of Jesus of Nazareth. A life having been foretold for centuries.

Isaiah 53: 5-6 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

Psalms 22: 16 “For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked have enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet”

And it is in the story of Christ that we see the only begotten Son of God descending unto humanity. The scriptures claim that faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and that Jesus himself was the Word made into flesh. It is precisely the life of Christ that I observe something fundamentally unique beyond any other historical record, a voice rising from utter obscurity, a voice that has endured throughout the ages. If we take the scriptures seriously we see that it offers us a very congruent framework in which God has revealed Himself to mankind.

But how can we know if Jesus was who He said He was? This brings us to a very fundamental question – what is our relationship with reality? Let us take gravity for example, we know gravity exists because we can observe and experience it laws in effect all around us, thus through our direct empirical contact we are made aware of its reality. It is through observing such uniform and repeated experiences that reality exists

Thus why should this methodology be any less viable in forming my reality of God? The scriptures assert that the law of the Spirit of life through Christ will produce within our members the fruits of the Spirit. That those who pick up their crosses and crucify the deeds of their flesh will be reborn a new creation, dissolved from the law of sin and the lusts of the flesh that govern our mortal bodies. Thus if the Spirit of God really dwells within us, and if Christ were true, then those who follow after Him ought to be able to observe and experience this new creation coming to fruition over time.

The core narrative of the Bible is not that that man has ascended into spiritual enlightement and obtained this privileged knowledge of the one true God, but rather God that has descended unto earth and revealed Himself to us in such a way that we can be assured that He is who He says He is. If we look objectively at the mere fact that the teachings of Jesus persist as the most influential words to ever be spoken, we have good reason to believe that Jesus in His own right was extraordinarily unique.

Knowing what we do through recent advances in cosmology and physics, is it logical to presume the world could have arisen by purely natural processes? Today many scientist have attempted to postulate different theories on how ‘something’ could have emerged from ‘nothing’. Redefining nothing to be some sort of quantum vacuum in which particles appear from free-space. perhaps the words of Paul ring more true now than they ever did:

” 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.22 Professing to be wise, they became fools” – Romans 1:20-22

A convenient repository of Biblical truth in the form of Quizlet flashcard sets on various topics facing people in the modern age ....................................................... “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." -Matthew 10:34